1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to emergency (SOS) messaging in wireless access communication networks.
2. Background Art
Emergency situations commonly occur around the globe, putting a large number of lives at risk. A cellular network offers a unique and important opportunity to protect people during times of crisis and emergency. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) offers an Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS), which enables delivery of critical information to User Equipments (UEs) within the cellular coverage zone, drastically reducing the amount of time required to warn users of an impending disaster.
While the ETWS system is able to distribute emergency and early warning information before a disaster, it does not enable delivering emergency information in the reverse direction, from a UE to the network, which would allow a user to identify itself as in need of emergency assistance. One design challenge is that network coverage is commonly poor in the location where the emergency event occurs (e.g., due to infrastructure being damaged due to the emergency event, or if the emergency event occurs at the radio cell edge or outside of the coverage area).
The present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Generally, the drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.